The Rockmen Conquer
The Old Talbot, Hilton (Saturday 6th September 2008)
After much talk, fretting, waiting by various members of the band, we managed to get another gig to get our rocks off at. Enjoy the ramble and hopefully some video and maybe even some photos at some point... If I get sent any (hint, hint! :) )
After the triumph of the Norfolk gig and a few sparse jams over the summer period due to everyone being busy with bands, work, babies, etc. Rich had got us booked to play the 2nd Annual Beer Festival at The Old Talbot in Hilton which is just down the road from his place and the local of one Sir Mark of Hulland. There had been a whole lotta pissing about leading up to this due to concerns over the stage set up and the crappy weather that we've had this summer. The gig was to be an outdoor one with the bands setup on the back of a covered flat-bed trailer in true Roughley's stylee.
Since Brad had been booked up with gigs with his other two bands and then indeed, after a chat with me during the week leading up to the gig, decided to step down from the lead mic in this band, we'd got Bern to join the band to do this gig and see how it goes for any future bookings. This was pretty good and good of Bern, so we're all grateful for that and I'd like to say thanks again here. Bern (or "Brrrrrrn", as he will now be referred to by his new all-metal moniker) is my new microphone guru We adjusted the set around what he felt comfortable singing, which did mean that we lost a fave or two ("Rock Candy" and "Tie Your Mother Down" being major losses) but the set was pretty good and nicely balanced to provide 45 minutes of fun for a reasonable range of rock fans (See further down the page for the set list). So the line up for the show was:
- Mr. Bern Stubbs - Vocals
- Rich (Frank) Goodchild - Guitar, Sequencing
- Andy "The Leg" O'Brien - Guitar
- Shaun "Saruman" Bradley - Bass, Backing Vocals
- Me - Drums, Backing Vocals
We got a few rehearsals in in July and August and got everything whipped into shape. There were some concerns about the set, with the opening three numbers being a bit of a worry for me as they're not songs I really think are totally amazing for us, but do provide good warm-ups for the manic rock later in the set. But it all sounded good when played together and it was balanced enough, as stated before, to be a varied set with plenty of upbeatness to rattle it all along. We rehearsed on Thursday night and we were pretty comfortable with it all and ready to rock. The other concern was the fact that we'd got rain forecast for the whole weekend, which was not too clever since we'd be playing outside. Rich was also banging his head against a brick wall trying to get details of the stage and gear needed for the day. It was a case of "drummer brings cymbals and snare" for me, so that made life easier. It did mean that we wouldn't get a morning warm-up / rehearsal in on the Saturday, but we'd decided to scrap that after Thursday's session. There were also some domestic arguments going on, but I'm not going on about that here and, luckily, it was not in my house this time!
The Day Arrives
So, the day came and I got Kez to work and Sammo to Grandma's and I packed up my stuff and got ready to go. I got the required drums bits as well as some spare stuff (bass pedal, snare stand, mic and stand etc.) in the car, washed my hair so I could look as ROKKKKK as possible (of course) and readied the dethPod with some tunes to get me in the mood for the drive down (including Black Stone Cherry, Journey and Dolly Parton) and got ready to go. I was a bit subdued in the morning really with some other stuff on my mind and I felt a bit non-commital about the day for some reason, but I started to pick up when I was driving down the M60 singing along to "Islands in the Stream" with the sun coming out from behind the shitty rain clouds that were filling the sky. I even put my shades on... the future indeed, was so bright. This need for shades lasted right up until Stoke though, where in the sight of Sainsbury's from the dual carriage way, it just lagged it down for all it was worth. 90 miles an hour, girl, was not the speed I was driving at that point.It only took an hour and a quarter of thundering down the road to get to Fort Goodchild from Castle Grayskull, with me arriving at about midday, as advertised. Obviously, the plethora of phone calls from various people not telling me to play well, but to watch the roads served me well in the end as I got there and got made a lovely brew.
We chilled out and shot the shit for a while whilst I had me brew and showed little Joe how he cold look cool if he wore my shades. But the main order of this part of the day was to go to the Talbot and check out the set-up before the rest of the band got to Rich's gaff. So, we jumped in the Silver Machine and hit the road to Hilton. We got there and found Mark, who was already hitting the barrels in good style (at 1pm-ish). I've not seen the man for a couple of years at least now and it was excellent to catch up with him and find that he's still as he was last time I saw him. We found Chris and his mate, who would be doing the sound for the day and had a chat. It turns out that they are both drummers too, so I was in good and sympathetic company. The stage was good enough on the flatbed, although it was a bit wet. Still, the rain was angling away from the stage, so there was the reduced risk of getting eluctrocuted mid-gig. There was pletny of room up there, but the drop from the stage-edge was a bit severe, so the stand-up people would have to watch there step as the floor was a bit slippy. There would be no drum-riser leaps for Rich today and The Leg would need to be immensely careful during his solos. The kit was a spare one of Chris' and had been sat in his garage for a number of years and it showed I'm afraid. The skins were a bit buggered, but did play OK. There were enough stands for my purposes, so that was good. The drums were in the usual shop-format 5-piece layout, but more of that later.
We had a good chin wag with the fellas and found we all got on fine, which is always important on these occasions. I was starting to get into the day finally by that point. The rest of the venue was pretty much sheltered from the rain by marquees, which was great. There were benches under there with the stalls and the bar-be-que and the beer bar. The area was pretty big and looked like it would hold plenty of people. The bit infront of the stage was not covered and the beer garden was in the open, but that was fine.
We hung out to hear the start of the first band so we could hear the sound. They were a 3-piece band of young lads who played very serious sounding originals and I'd be buggered if I can remember their name now. The sound was generally very good and the drums sounded decent, even if the lad playing them may has well have been tickling the kit with drinking straws. I was willing him to wake up and twat the drums, but he didn't. Still, the kit had four mics on it, so with tweeking from the desk, it sounded great and the rest of the instruments cut through nicely. It would seem that the gents at the desk were going to do a fine job. Rich started gettin worried about the set-up on stage at that point, but I tried to reassure him that it would be fine. We checked out the limited car parking arrangements and then got back to Littleover to see what was what and get sorted.
We got back and had a bit of cheese on toast and I let Joe play with the bits of kit I'd brought, which I'm sure Kate was overjoyed at since Megan (less than a month old) would be well up for hearing her big brother smacking drums and cymbals about. Sorry, Kate. Clan An/Dy turned up at 3-ish and we all sat around chatting about "the old days" and people who we all seemed to know from various places before we actually knew each other. Saruman and Bern turned up soon after and we hung out a bit longer before packing up and setting off for Hilton around 4pm-ish.
Getting Sorted
We got to Hilton at the same time as most of our midlands audience, which included Rich's folks, Sarah and her fella, Mark Baxter and family, Rich's Gran, Andy and some of Rich's workmates. We faffed about with the parking arrangements and then proceeded to sort out the stage. We loaded-in, barging through the increased number of people between the stage and the car park with our bags, gear and amps and up the dodgy and wet-looking steps to the stage. The kit had only been played by the tickler, as the only other act of the day so far didn't have need for the drums, but this had not stopped the bloody bass drum pedal going missing. I'd brought mine, just in case, and I do like playing my trusty old Premier pedal as I can get it moving nice and fast. So I thanked my lucky stars and set it up.
Whilst the rest of the boys wrestled with their gear, I decided to make life difficult for myself by rearranging the kit. I favour the Bonham-style one-up-front-and-two-to-the-side five-piece kit with the ride up-front set up, as you know, so I had to do some shifting. I took the spare tom off and had the kit as a four-piece for a bit whilst we played "Summer of '69" as a bit of a soundcheck to get balance and check all was well. I had to sort out the wandering hi-hat stand, which was fun, but that turned out OK. After a trip to the pisser, I proceeded to tear the kit down again and dragged out a spare clamp and mounting rod that I'd got in the bag (thank god) to mount up the cowbell. I left the cowbell off and mounted up the tom and got a more comfortable set-up. There was the inevitable piss-taking for that from the mixer, but a dude must have the kit right! Things were still set-up a bit funny (hi-hats to high, toms at wierd angles etc.) but it was all good to go by the time I'd finished pissing about.
Then it was a case of waiting for a mo to get going.
Are You Ready To Rock?
5pm arrived and it was time to go. We took our places and got introduced and went straight into "20th Century Boy". It's a shame that we couldn't have started with "Tie Your Mother Down", but at least "20C Boy" is a good warm-up tune. We sounded pretty good from the off, although the snare from where I was sitting sounded so damn boomy that I couldn't tell if the snares were on or the drum was bust. It was just the noise that cancelled it out for me though, I think. There was also no monitors for me, so hearing anything else clearly was a nightmare and I had to really concentrate to tell what was going on during the set. I suppose that my decision earlier in the day that since we were outside and playing through a big PA, that I'd play as hard as I could didn't help the sound situation for me, but I was in the mood to hit things hard, so that's what I did. And hit them very hard I did. Luckily, all the kit stayed in place as I wellied through the openers and it all stayed put for the duration. "Teenage Kicks" followed pretty quickly and went well. I couldn't hear my vocals, so I was a bit hesitant to let rip on the singing. I just hope that I was in tune. "Should I Stay..." ended the opening three numbers and was it's usual chaotic blast. We were playing it incredibly fast at the end and it sounded OK after all that. The first three numbers were always going to be played fast, as they are not exactly favourites of the band to play. The songs went down very well though and we were alright, even if we did play stuff faster than we should have.
It was then the chance to bring it all down in speed and settle down with "Hard To Handle". This one swung OK, although I did rush a few fills, but there was no real disasters there. Listening to a recording of that tune, it is clear that I may have nearly gone a bit too over the top on it and I did nearly fall off my stool during some fills. MarkB, at the end of the set said this song was a highlight. "Up Around The Bend" followed and went about a million miles an hour. It sounded good though and very raw. This was the first of the songs with the big harmony vocals on which I was a bit tentative on due to not being able to hear much. Everything was where it should have been on here and Brrrrrn's leads sounded great on here with the extra gravel he gave to the vocals.
Next up was "Wanted" of which I was nervous about due to some timing problems at rehearsal and the fact that the Norfolk gig version of this was terrible and not that well recieved. But I needn't have worried as it went really well and sounded pretty good. It also got a good response from out front. Timing was perfect for the most part and the solo was great from The Leg wrenching the notes from Mr Pointy's black-hearted neck (Get me!). The recording on the video sounds great and I'm actually pretty impressed by it! This song may actually end up staying in the set if we can play it that good again.
This was the part of the gig in which Rich was seen to nearly cry with a strange mix of dispair and joy. We'd just got a great response (best yet of the set) from "Wanted..." when some lass in the audience started shouting for "MOW-TER-RED!" We didn't have anythin prepared and Brrrrrn said "nah!" Great stuff and an obvious piece of proof for the Goodchild to get a song in there!
Next up was "Jailbreak" which gave Chris at the front at the mixer a thrill and a reason to shout "YES" in the quiet before the intro. We rattled through at a good pace. There was some tasty bass drum stuff happening through it and most of my fills and timing was OK although the strange angle of the sides toms made it tricky to hit consistantly. I almost fell over the "BREAKOUT!" bit by only just remembering when to stop the beat, and it sounded a bit shaky, but it stayed as together as it needed to do to keep it going. "Ain't Talkin..." followed and sounded good. Brrrrrn had a few lyric problems on the second chorus, but this was fine and didn't trip us up. There was the usual mugging here during the quiet bit, which was funny. Andy ripped another great solo out and I managed to play the end bit properly for a change. "Wishing Well" followed pretty quick... and quick it was. It was possibly a bit too fast, but it sounded OK. My backing seemed to be a bit rough here but the drums managed to stay together. Brrrrrn ripped out a lovely long note at the end, which was great. It was here that I noticed the awful stoby stage lights which kept blinking at us. No one had a fit though, so all was good. Also, since the hats were pretty high, I was starting to get a cramped and strained right arm. I had to lay off a bit for a while to keep it all going.
It was then that Rich had his big moment and we went into "Crossroads". I nearly fell over the intro, but it was covered OK as I was laying off this one to give my arms a rest. It swung along nicely and I was wondering what Rich's dad would have been thinking about it knowing his interest in all things Clapton. Like father like son... It did sound good though and we did tear it up nicely.
To please "Miss Mow-Ter-Red", we played "Rockin' in the Free World" fast and hard. It really was fast, but sounded very mean and pretty cool. There was a lot of smoke from the damn machine at the back of the stage which was a bit of a pain. An/Dy managed to get his thrash riffing in on the verse, which was cool as it makes it all sound soo metal, dooood! The harmonies on the chorus were dangerously on the edge and threatened to fall apart a few times, but they stayed in and sounded great. There was lots of over the top fills here and I had great fun knowing that my arm only had another song after this one so I could hit as hard as I wanted. We had a close call here as Brrrrrn started singing over the guitar solo spot. He started on verse lyrics and kept on going as Rich ripped his solo out. There was a bit of a mini-mid-song-conference as Shaun tried to get Rich to stop soloing so Brrrrrn could get to the end of the verse and we'd go for the solos after another chorus, but this took quite a while to sort before it all settled into another chorus. After this we got the solos and Rich and An/Dy tore out some great leads and we crashed to the end in fine style.
Another comedy moment happened during Brrrrrn's intro to "Won't Get Fooled Again". It went like this:
Brrrrn: "...and err, you probably know this one..."
Miss M: "IS IT MOW-TER-RED?!"
Classic stuff. She got a few bars of "Ace of Spades" from Rich for her troubles. Anyway.
The intro to "Won't Get Fooled Again" was on a CD behind the mixer and it started up, sounding loud and proud, before we launched into it with Shaun motioning to cut the sound from it quick as I couldn't hear it to tell if I was in tune as it carried on. This one was VERY frenzied on my part with some shouty backing and some very close-to-the-edge Moonie fills during the song. Still it was a fun one to rip out. Listening back to it, it sounds better than I thought it did at the time and the fills are very fast and furious and very much in danger of falling apart. There was the usual uncertainty about the arrangement of the damn thing, but it flowed OK and it was fun with some good screaming from the man at the front.
And that was that for the main set. There was lots of shouting for encores and demands for more so we had to play ("had to play"! Oh, the drama) "Summer of '69" and a repeat of "Jailbreak". "Summer..." sounded fine, the soundcheck rendition being of great help to loosen that one up a bit. Then "Jailbreak" again. Rich told me to play it a faster this time, so fast I played it... VERY fast. Too fast really, but f*ck it was a fun one to end on, the over the top speed adding some fun to it as we tried to keep it together. It did stay together and sounded good, even if I was getting looks of disbelief and despair from the other worthy constituants on the stage. Great fun...
And that was that for everything and I think that we played pretty good. We got asked publicly if we'd give our number out for possible future gigs, which was cool, but feck knows how that'll turn out with the band in it's current state. The audience gave us a great reaction and I think that we gave them a good show with a good set and a great sound, so that's fantastic. We packed up as quick as and retired to the grass to see friends and family etc. We also had a few glasses of "Old Fecker", which were a treat as I went on stage without any water to drink and was parched by the time I finished (I brought home my commemorative tankard to remind me of the day). Luckily for us, the rain held off throughout, apart from right at the end when it started to dribble a bit. We got some bright skies for our set, which was great and kept the mood up and people dancing. It was good to get the 5pm slot so we could enjoy playing and be done for the day to enjoy the beer etc.
Afterwards
We hung around a while and chatted about the future, which is uncertain at the moment due to all this faffing about with band members, then we talked about what would go on with the offers of gigs we were getting after we had finished playing. There were offers of pub gigs and biker rallies, which may be fun if they can be organised. I managed to have a quick chat with Rich's family, which doesn't happen often enough these days. It's always good to see Sarah and Rich's mam. MarkB gave me his opinions of the gig, which were good and MarkH strode over to have a laugh too. We bid the rest of the band farewell too. An/Dy wanted to get the family home and Saruman and Brrrrrn were off to eat curry, which sounded like a f*cking fantastic idea, but Rich and I had other more liquid plans for the evening... So our separate ways we went.
After all the mucking about with getting back to Rich's, showering and sorting shit out generally, we almost felt too knackered to make the effort to go back to the gig. We made the effort and got back in the car and drove back. We parked at MarkH's round the corner and walked back, bass drum pedal in hand as Andy had loaded the pub's pedal into the car with my stuff and they may have wanted it back!
We got back to see the place was now rammed busy and rocking to a blues-based covers act who played really well, but lacked on the vocals, especially during Zep's "Rock and Roll". The band after them were... Actually, I'm going to not comment about the other bands apart from saying that, as the night wore on (and the beer was going down) it was clear to Rich and I that "we shit 'em" completely and sounded far better, tighter and had a better set than the rest. This was confirmed by Chris the sound man, who was well into our set. The rest of the bands were generally rock-based covers like us.
We boozed it up and had a good laugh all night. MarkH was on form and was dropping his guts every five minutes, releasing odours that one would never have thought possible. His arse could be used for chemical warfare, it was incredible, stinking and stinging... Nasty. We also saw Liz, who MarkH used to see and who came out with us all in Manchester one evening many moons ago and had a great night. I didn't recognise her at first, but it was top to see her again when the penny finally dropped. The rain came down, the burgers were like tyres and the music was up-and-down, but it was a great night after all that and I;m very glad we made the effort.
Last orders (and an almost dry bar) saw us get a taxi back to Rich's where we ate toast, drank tea & whiskey, shot the shit and watch Father Ted episodes on DVD until 3.30am when we thought we'd best go to sleep...
So it was a good day and we'll see what happens with all this as we go. Whether we do more with this line-up or find others to play, who knows. Watch this space!
Set List
- Main Set
- 20th Century Boy (T-Rex)
- Teenage Kicks (Undertones)
- Should I Stay Or Should I Go (The Clash)
- Hard To Handle (Otis Redding - Black Crowes version)
- Up Around The Bend (CCR - Hanoi Rocks version)
- Wanted: Dead Or Alive (Bon Jovi)
- Jailbreak (Thin Lizzy)
- Ain't Talkin' About Love (Van Halen)
- Wishing Well (Free)
- Crossroads (Cream version)
- Rockin' In The Free World (Neil Young)
- Won't Get Fooled Again (Th'Oo)
- Encores
- Summer Of '69 (Bryan Adams)
- Jailbreak (Thin Lizzy)
Rockmen Rock!
The video is in FLV format and should stream quite quickly to your computer. Excuse the distorted sound, the microphone on the camera isn't the best when recording high-volume noise. Please be patient if the video doesn't load immediately.
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© 2006 Graham T. Ebbrell